On Thursday, June 13, California lawmakers approved a $215 billion state budget, which Governor Gavin Newsom is expected to sign. Included in the budget are several health care reforms whose mammoth cost the state may soon regret.
Paramount among them is the expansion of Medi-Cal, the state's Medicaid...
The Trump administration is planning to propose one of the biggest changes to Medicare in decades. The draft rule aims to reduce government spending by linking Medicare drug reimbursement rates to the rates in more than a dozen other Western countries that use price controls to hold...
Like the United States, Canada is aging rapidly. By 2021, my native land will have more seniors than children under 14 for the first time in its history. It's no wonder nearly 9 in 10 Canadians are worried about the growing number of seniors who...
Late last month, Senators Lamar Alexander, R-Tenn., and Patty Murray, D-Wash., released bipartisan health reform legislation.
The package isn't perfect. But it does include some positive elements—including measures to improve price transparency, ban anti-competitive practices, and boost vaccination rates.
Consider how the draft legislation would tackle the excesses...
President Trump is expected to issue an executive order soon that could require insurers and hospitals to disclose the prices they've negotiated for various services. He hopes such transparency will increase competition and drive down health spending.
The health care industry is less supportive. The nation's...
The U.S. economy thrives on innovation. According to the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, industries that intensively rely on intellectual property (IP) protections, which includes the biopharmaceutical industry, account for nearly 40 percent of the U.S. economy and are responsible for an outsized share of our...
A team of investigative reporters recently released a scathing analysisof the Obama administration's decade-old push to digitize patient health records. The report, conducted by Fortune Magazine and Kaiser Health News, revealed that electronic health records were responsible for thousands of serious, even fatal, medical errors.
Needless to say,...
This week, the House Budget Committee hosted three representatives from the Congressional Budget Office to discuss their new report analyzing the prospects for a single-payer health care system in America.
Democrats used the CBO report as an excuse to plug their preferred plans for reform. "It's not a question of...
Last week, Gov. Jay Inslee, D-Wash., signed a bill to create a state-chartered insurance plan to be sold on the state's insurance exchange. That makes the Evergreen State the first in the nation to offer a "public option."
State officials claim the new plan gives consumers one more option on...
Before leaving office, former Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Scott Gottlieb told the Senate Appropriations Committee that Congress should create a new requirement for opioid approvals. New opioids should have to demonstrate superiority over those already on the market, he said.
That would be a departure...
California’s ‘free’ health care for illegal immigrants — courtesy of the taxpayers
On Thursday, June 13, California lawmakers approved a $215 billion state budget, which Governor Gavin Newsom is expected to sign. Included in the budget are several health care reforms whose mammoth cost the state may soon regret. Paramount among them is the expansion of Medi-Cal, the state's Medicaid...
How socialist price controls will harm American patients
The Trump administration is planning to propose one of the biggest changes to Medicare in decades. The draft rule aims to reduce government spending by linking Medicare drug reimbursement rates to the rates in more than a dozen other Western countries that use price controls to hold...
Single-payer healthcare is a bust for baby boomers
Like the United States, Canada is aging rapidly. By 2021, my native land will have more seniors than children under 14 for the first time in its history. It's no wonder nearly 9 in 10 Canadians are worried about the growing number of seniors who...
Breaking Down the Alexander-Murray Senate Health Reform Plan
Late last month, Senators Lamar Alexander, R-Tenn., and Patty Murray, D-Wash., released bipartisan health reform legislation. The package isn't perfect. But it does include some positive elements—including measures to improve price transparency, ban anti-competitive practices, and boost vaccination rates. Consider how the draft legislation would tackle the excesses...
Trump order could cut your cost of health care and drugs
President Trump is expected to issue an executive order soon that could require insurers and hospitals to disclose the prices they've negotiated for various services. He hopes such transparency will increase competition and drive down health spending. The health care industry is less supportive. The nation's...
Don’t Legislate Away Biopharmaceutical Innovation
The U.S. economy thrives on innovation. According to the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, industries that intensively rely on intellectual property (IP) protections, which includes the biopharmaceutical industry, account for nearly 40 percent of the U.S. economy and are responsible for an outsized share of our...
Electronic Health Records Are Broken
A team of investigative reporters recently released a scathing analysisof the Obama administration's decade-old push to digitize patient health records. The report, conducted by Fortune Magazine and Kaiser Health News, revealed that electronic health records were responsible for thousands of serious, even fatal, medical errors. Needless to say,...
‘Medicare-for-all’ is worse than the CBO says it is (much worse)
This week, the House Budget Committee hosted three representatives from the Congressional Budget Office to discuss their new report analyzing the prospects for a single-payer health care system in America. Democrats used the CBO report as an excuse to plug their preferred plans for reform. "It's not a question of...
Washington’s Cascade Care will bring a cascade of problems
Last week, Gov. Jay Inslee, D-Wash., signed a bill to create a state-chartered insurance plan to be sold on the state's insurance exchange. That makes the Evergreen State the first in the nation to offer a "public option." State officials claim the new plan gives consumers one more option on...
The FDA’s Bad Medicine
Before leaving office, former Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Scott Gottlieb told the Senate Appropriations Committee that Congress should create a new requirement for opioid approvals. New opioids should have to demonstrate superiority over those already on the market, he said. That would be a departure...